OUR CHANGING ENVIRONMENT: Rondônia, Brazil

To decentralize the Brazilian population and develop new regions, the
Brazilian government completed the Cuiabá-Pôrto Velho highway through
the province of Rondônia in 1960. The road provided access to tropical
rainforest previously occupied only by indigenous people. Two main factors
increased immigration to the province. First, the World Bank decided in
December 1980 to invest in paving the Cuiabá-Pôrto Velho highway, making
travel easier. Second, economic hardship near the southern coast encouraged
emigration to the area where immigrants hoped to acquire new land. The
1975 and 1986 images show substantial settlement in the Ariquemes area,
near the highway. The predominant 'fishbone' pattern on the landscape
is the result of logging operations which provide access to new land.
Primary land uses are cattle ranching and annual crop farming. More sustainable
perennial crops such as coffee, cacao and rubber occupy less than 10 per
cent of the agricultural land.

Despite encroachment, programmes are now attempting to preserve the land
for multi-use functions providing a wider array of income-producing products
for farmers that should eventually result in less impact on the tropical
rainforest.